Results for Category: Botanical

Starting Your Own Herb Seeds? Time for Cold Stratification!
January may not seem like an obvious time for garden work in the Northern Hemisphere, but this is actually a crucial time to prepare the seeds of certain plants for the spring thaw. Successful germination in a controlled environment, like a garden, requires that seeds go through conditions similar to what they would experience in…

Evergreen Forest Bath Salts Recipe with Juniper and Pine
As we head into the new year, winter has deeply enveloped many parts of the country. Most plants and animals are dormant or hibern...

How to Recognize and Manage Hormonal Imbalance
Recognizing and managing hormonal imbalance starts with an understanding of hormones and the impact they have on our bodies. Hormo...

Your Guide to Winter Foraging
Something magical happens in the winter. Our pace slows, the world grows quiet, and we cozy up in our homes with a more inward focus. We’re inviting you out into the quiet world and beckoning you away from your snug nest to go with us on a winter foraging journey. Despite the drop in temperatures,…

Soothing Herbal Sitz Bath for New Mothers
You can blend together botanicals celebrated for their relaxing aromas and cooling astringent properties to create a soothing herbal sitz bath. Both yarrow (Achillea millefolium) aerial parts and St. John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum) flowers have been found to aid mothers recovery from the birthing process. Their anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties soothe the skin and stimulate…

How to Use Mugwort for Dreams, Sleep, and More
When I was camping in the Gifford-Pinchot National Forest as part of my studies at the Elderberry School of Botanical Medicine, I ...

French Apple Cinnamon Tea
This French Apple Cinnamon Tea recipe calls for cinnamon, apples, and honey, providing a little crispness with a dash of sweetness...

De Materia Medica: The Ancient Text that Changed the World
There is a grand mystery and pleasure in reading ancient texts that can still fulfill our curiosities about the human experience. Writings about herbalism are no exception, as they give us a sense of how our ancestors lived, survived, and interacted with the natural world around them. De Materia Medica, Latin for “On Medical Material”…

Health Benefits of Cinnamon + 2 Warming Recipes
(Excerpted from Spice Apothecary by Bevin Clare. Used with permission from Storey Publishing.) Cinnamon is one of the oldest and most well-known spices. There are four commonly available types of cinnamon, and they can be quite different in taste, chemical composition, and herbal action. All come from the inner bark of several Southeast Asian tree…

Using Goldenrod: A Late Summer Cordial Recipe
Goldenrod (Solidago spp.) flourishes abundantly on roadsides and meadows in late summer and fall. In the plant family, Asteraceae,...